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Review & Installation Video

Review & Install Video

I’m Justin with AmericanMuscle.com, and today I have with me 3 different brake pad options, all from Hawk Performance. We’re looking at the ceramic, the HPS, and the HP+, for both front and rear that will offer a broad range of performance that will suit everything from a bone stock daily driver, to an all out race course monster. Any one of these pads will far outperform your stock pads in just about every way, more braking performance, less fade and dust. However it’s very important you select the right pad for your application, so with that in mind, let’s break these 3 options down a little further. First up is the ceramic option from Hawk. These are going to be an ideal OE replacement and be perfectly suited for any daily driver, they’re going to bite strong without needing to be hot, be very quiet, and offer very minimal dust. This is all thanks to that ceramic compounds, which offers a nice balance between performance and everyday streetability. The next pad, the Hawk HPS will be right in the middle between the ceramics and the HP+ and will be for a daily driver or a weekend warrior, whose car does see a little track time and are just looking for a little bit more bite, and less fade. These pads utilize a therocarbon compound which does benefit from a little heat in order to perform their best but still offer great performance when cold. It is worth pointing out that these pads can be a little noisy when cold, and will definitely put off a little bit more dust than the ceramics, but all around, the HPS are a solid performer. Finally, we have the HP+. These are going to be for someone who subjects their Mustang to road courses and auto crossing where repetitive fade and high heat can kill lesser pads. Can you use these pads on the street? Yes, however, these pads feature a high temperature specific compound with a very high friction coefficient, which means these pads need to be hot and stay hot in order to perform at their best, like on a road course or an auto cross track. Once hot, these HP+ pads will bite hard, and offer great performance with very little fade, these pads tend to be very noisy and put off a good amount of dust, however since they’re geared more towards a race car versus a show car, most folks should be fine with that. Installing these pads from Hawk or any brake pads at that matter is a pretty simple task if you’ve never tackled brakes before. Due to the aggressive compounds of these pads, Hawk included a grease, to be used in conjunction with the included shim located on the back of the pad just to keep the noise level down. It’s very important that you use the grease on the back of the pad and not on the front of the pad, just so you don’t mess up your new brakes. Overall, getting the fronts and rears installed should only take you about 2 hours from start to finish. When it comes down to it, brake pads and tires are 2 of the biggest factors when it comes to helping your car stop faster. So try upgrading your Mustang to a quality pad like one of these Hawk options, and discover the difference in your braking performance.

Superior Stopping Power. Whether you're replacing worn-out stock pads or looking for an inexpensive way to improve your New Edge Mustang's stopping power, Hawk HPS pads are an affordable alternative to a complete brake upgrade. The Hawk HPS pads have a 20-40% better braking and higher resistance to fade than other replacement pads on the market for the stopping power you need, when you need it.

Street/Strip Use. Hawk HPS pads are a great balance of streetability and track performance. They're at their best once they're a little warm, but provide good stopping power even cold so you can drive them on your dual use street and strip 'Stang and still enjoy their performance advantages.

Reduced Brake Fade. If you like to take your Pony to the track or strip, you know that brake fade is your enemy. Hawk HPS pads are designed to resist fade more than other pads, ensuring consistent braking even when things get hot.

Good, but....

I bought these maybe 3 months ago, and they brake good. But if they are cold they will squeel, and whine. Also they have small circle tabs on the back of them and this part is very important. Those tabs ...
MUST be ground off, otherwise it will destroy your brake pistons. I forgot to grind them off and it shattered 2 outa 4 of my pistons :(

I bought these maybe 3 months ago, and they brake good. But if they are cold they will squeel, and whine. Also they have small circle tabs on the back of them and this part is very important. Those tabs MUST be ground off, otherwise it will destroy your brake pistons. I forgot to grind them off and it shattered 2 outa 4 of my pistons :(

First off let me say that these have great stopping power and can easily lock up all four 245 width tires without any brake noise.
This great braking does come at a cost though, after 50 miles of driving my friends start drawing smiley faces in the brake dust on my wheels, so I have to wipe down my wheels with a damp towel every few days.
If you let the dust collect for a while you'll have to scrub it off, so I'd recommend just wiping down your wheels real quick every other day.

Upgraded to these for lapping days. They have great stopping power but do give off a lot of brake dust. Not a big deal on the track but I do now swap back to regular pads when I'm just using the car on the street. For the price they are a great pad until you get more aggressive on the track, the next step will be to step up to the HP plus. Hawk makes a great product and American Muscle has amazing service.

These pads have great stopping power they really improved my cars ability to stop. They do give off quite a bit of dust, and there is a burning smell under intense breaking. I wash my car often so the dust isn't a big issue for me. Also the pads are beefy, which is a good thing, but they rubbed a little for the first couple of miles.

I read the reviews, and bought these pads a couple months ago, great stopping, but indeed they produce a bit more brake dust than i prefer. If you have chrome rims I suggest getting a good rim protectant and a towel. You will have to whipe these rims before and after washing when you have these pads.

it took me about 3 to 4 hours taking off the caliper because it was rusted and still had locktight on them. but after installing the pads and the powerslot rotors there perfect i love them. great stopping power. i recommend this product.

These Hawk pads provide excellent braking power stop after stop and they never seem to fade, although I'm sure they do fade past a certain temperature it's not a temperature you'll ever reach on the street or at the end of a drag strip. These pads preform seamlessly with consistent pedal feel and braking power from cold to hot unlike other pads I've used that preform well either hot or cold but not both.
My only complaint about these pads is the very heavy dusting that Hawk describes as "low", they might be low dusting for a race brake pad but these are street/strip pads and certainly aren't low dusting by street standards. My wheels start to show dust after about 20 miles and are heavily dusted after 1 week.

okay product, make some difference to stopping power, but not that significant. bought them with power slot roters, front set, although it was highly recommended by other buyers, it didn't really worked that great with me!

I purchased these in conjunction with PowerSlot Rotors. These pads are very well designed and fit perfectly, however, I thought they performed very similarly to the stock pads. I really didn't notice any difference in brake performance. I noticed significantly more grab when the pads/rotors were hot (IE slowing down on the freeway), but normal city driving remained basically unchanged. The install was very straight forward. I would recommend these to anyone looking to replace their brake pads.

New to the Ferro_carbon, had them on for a week now, very very noticable difference from stock in tapping on the highway and when needed for slowing down at fast speeds. keeping pace with my buddys 350z in the corners has been much better and he even noticed the difference. does make a tiny sound like an airplane slowing down from the different compound, but you have to REALLY listen for it. ordered from American Muscle, arrived fast. would buy again. 5 stars for A-M and hawk HPS.

Hawk Performance HPS Brake Pads - Front Pair (99-04 GT, V6)

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Word on The Street

I can't begin to explain how great the whole experience with American Muscle was, from the information about the product which included a video installation guide, to the free one day shipping, the whole process was fantastic. You can tell then they really take pride in the way they run the site.

Meet Our Team

I got my first Mustang when I was 16, a two tone 91 GT red and silver with a sunroof that did not leak. And needless to say I was a bit timid to do work on it, I had not modified any vehicle before outside of installing a CD player. I got working with a friend that had a 95 GT at the time and star...